Shmups Forum Time Machine!

[undamned]

Hop in!

http://www.network54.com/Forum/121510/

-ud

[Kiken]

Thank God the forum doesn't look like that anymore.

[Udderdude]

Web 1.0 is best web :O

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Wow thats basic and the way you have to click on each post is time consuming. I had a quick read of one or 2 threads and I noticed that many of the posts were longer and had more depth compared to posts in this forum where most posts are just one or two sentences.

I wonder why its like that? is because of the how the forum is designed or just the ppl who where posting back then and are still into shmups today have already posted in a hundred Ikaruga / Cave threads and have nothing left to say what hasnt allready been said a million times

[greg]

Thank God the forum doesn't look like that anymore.

Hey, those were some nostalgic times. I'd just moved back from Japan at the last part of '02. Heck, that's back when I first met Undamned, Jon, and Specineff and we starting hanging out together. Good times.

[GrantWindsor]

As one of the oldsters who was around here (well, the old forum at least) from 13-14 years ago, but no longer actively participates, it really brought back old memories seeing some of the old names (including me, Dylan (Kosh), Malc, Akira, etc.) and reading some of the old posts.  This was, and still is, the single best destination for devotees of our chosen genre.  Although I haven't actively posted in years, I'm still firmly entrenched in the genre and do enjoy visiting and reading the posts from time to time.  For those who know me, I'm still as much a completist, collector and dedicated game-player as I ever was (well, given available spare time at least), but I still refuse to label myself as hardcore, as that term has been bastardized and means nothing nowadays. I prefer to think of myself simply as a "guy who likes shmups."  Anyone here who displays a dedication to and finds themselves centered towards as niche a genre as 2D shooters need not prove their personal gaming worth to anyone.

[undamned]

Wow thats basic and the way you have to click on each post is time consuming. I had a quick read of one or 2 threads and I noticed that many of the posts were longer and had more depth compared to posts in this forum where most posts are just one or two sentences.

I wonder why its like that? is because of the how the forum is designed or just the ppl who where posting back then and are still into shmups today have already posted in a hundred Ikaruga / Cave threads and have nothing left to say what hasnt allready been said a million times

Haha, great questions! I can't really say why things have changed to be the way they are today, I just know our little genre felt even more niche back then and every little nugget of information was cherished

Grant! Nice to see an oldie around! Hopefully you can find your place here, again! If not, I don't blame you! Things have changed!
-ud

[Icarus]

Wow thats basic and the way you have to click on each post is time consuming. I had a quick read of one or 2 threads and I noticed that many of the posts were longer and had more depth compared to posts in this forum where most posts are just one or two sentences.

I wonder why its like that? is because of the how the forum is designed or just the ppl who where posting back then and are still into shmups today have already posted in a hundred Ikaruga / Cave threads and have nothing left to say what hasnt allready been said a million times

Back then, it was difficult to find forum software that offered threaded conversation lists, and free hosted software is generally sparse in terms of features. Also, with PHP and other dynamic web technologies being in relative infancy, most bulletin board features and message layouts were based on old Usenet message formats and structures, with the post date, author information, and message content at the top, and all corresponding child replies in a footer area below. Once dynamic web technologies improved, more complex bulletin board layouts could be used, ultimately culminating with the interlinked post-by-post structure that is common today.

The fun thing is that you could get a post-by-post threaded message display by clicking [view-thread] on the main index, but I don't think it could be set as a default view. And it displays it as direct replies to particular posts, rather than the chronological order we are used to seeing here.

With regards to content, the forum community was a lot smaller then, so everyone knew everyone, and information was difficult to get, so important content had to be detailed. Discussions were actually discussions. Nowadays, its mainly the core group of users that hold discussions, with a number of users outside the core occasionally injecting input into discussions, and still more users on the periphery lurking the forum.

Finally, in terms of forum history, there's at least one more version of the forum before that - started in 2000, I believe. The version linked by the OP was a stop-gap replacement.
And perhaps three or more versions between the old version linked in the OP, and this one.

[GrantWindsor]

I had a quick read of one or 2 threads and I noticed that many of the posts were longer and had more depth compared to posts in this forum where most posts are just one or two sentences. I wonder why its like that?

That's a good question.  It's probably due to the somewhat sparse nature of releases given certain points in time. I mean, seriously, I see a post with me fretting on not yet getting my copy of Night Raid for PS1.  For those of you who own it, it holds a, ahem, honored place in my collection alongside such "gems" as Planet Joker (SS) and God Panic (PCE).  However, we ended up seeing a bit of a shooting Renaissance on the PS2, much like we're currently seeing on the 360.  During the dry times, there was a lot of time spent periodically overanalyzing some games.  There were even threads trying to delve into shmup storylines.  While the forum lent itself to much thoughtful analysis, there was a certain desperation to it during periods of market inactivity.  We were all victors in the end, though, because we all became much better-versed on the genre and its games through the sharing of knowledge.  If a forum member thought a game was bad, you'd generally know in far too much detail why, not just some post that said "Game X sux."  You have to realize, though, there were far fewer of us in the fan-base trying keeping this whole genre relevant and viable.  Thankfully, there were also developers who never lost the faith, though some of them are now no longer with us.

[Elixir]

Ew.

[emphatic]

I had a quick read of one or 2 threads and I noticed that many of the posts were longer and had more depth compared to posts in this forum where most posts are just one or two sentences. I wonder why its like that?

That's a good question.

Ew.

[greg]

Wow, Grant! It's good to see you back. You've been missed.

[dpful]

Awse. flashback to PCB collecting days. I read one where I was super stoked to get Dimahoo and Mars Matrix. I've got to go play those!

[Shou]

As one of the oldsters who was around here (well, the old forum at least) from 13-14 years ago, but no longer actively participates, it really brought back old memories seeing some of the old names (including me, Dylan (Kosh), Malc, Akira, etc.) and reading some of the old posts.  This was, and still is, the single best destination for devotees of our chosen genre.  Although I haven't actively posted in years, I'm still firmly entrenched in the genre and do enjoy visiting and reading the posts from time to time.  For those who know me, I'm still as much a completist, collector and dedicated game-player as I ever was (well, given available spare time at least), but I still refuse to label myself as hardcore, as that term has been bastardized and means nothing nowadays. I prefer to think of myself simply as a "guy who likes shmups."  Anyone here who displays a dedication to and finds themselves centered towards as niche a genre as 2D shooters need not prove their personal gaming worth to anyone.

Wow, talk about a blast from the past. GP and I mentioned you sometime recently.

[BPzeBanshee]

Reminds me of some of the MAME forums I've come across that still use a similar format to this.

And IMO that format is STILL better than the 2ch-format forums.

[Jockel]

[8 1/2]

"A shooter should be about mad reflexes, not memorization of when to suck" -- 8 1/2

HAHA! Damn, I hate myself some days. I guess I was really hatin' on Giga Wing back then. Love the game now, so I don't know what the hell mood I was in when writing that.

[Akira]

Is this the post where all us zombies resurrect?
Nice to see Grant here gain. Buddy, I always remember you and the other guys and our conversations in this lovely forum.
I do check in here from time to time as well, life changes just mean I can't do much for the site anymore or actually beinterested in playing gamestoo long, but as always, I am forever grateful to those keeping up the flame and maintaining this forum and shmups are the best genre to quickly grab, have a blast for 30/60 minutes and feel satisfied. Gotta love that!

Many things have changed and I feel you when you posted about posts being longer before. It has to do a lot with the population of the forum and internet culture of back then compared to what it is now. Its really interested howthis forum changed and progressed in time.

I can't believe it's been 13/14 years!!!

Keep on shmuppin'

[AntiFritz]

This forum is getting worse every day.

Never change shmups forum.

[Ed Oscuro]

Will the lucky Japanese recieve a harder Contra? [view-thread] - Death Jester on Nov 3, 2002, 1:06 PM
Got Eliminate Down...all I can say is WOW! [view-thread] - maxlords on Nov 4, 2002, 11:13 AM

all that fucking time I spent at GameSpy Forums, Retrogaming Roundtable, even CVDF (I will make an exception because Bloodreign and the other guys are awesome, though, no regrets there)

and yeah, ahah, Shmups Forum is getting worse every day

Wonder if Brian (C?) ever got that Neo Geo CD lens sorted out. I'm sure boiling was a great help. I wonder why I don't regret hoarding expensive equipment and not using it or letting anybody else use it...

[BIL]

lol @ Shattered Soldier hate. Can't entirely disagree, it's a half-baked experience. Double lol @ the notion of Japan getting a harder version after Hard Corps (in the end Shin Contra was identical to SS aside from a bit of kanji).

[shmuppyLove]

Ah the days before PHP and MySQL.

[ryu]

Wow thats basic and the way you have to click on each post is time consuming.

just click on [view thread]

[Bloodreign]

I could've sworn I posted in that forum at least once, but too many page to go through. I did a search for my name, but I don't think it was my name now, or my CVDF name at that time.

[Ex_Mosquito]

Lol! I remember this thread. To be fair, I've never seen Ordyne in any UK arcades in the 80's, no excuse to be an arse, though..

http://www.network54.com/Forum/121510/m ... +on+shmups

What ever happend to Mode7? That guy had skills.

Mark

[Illyrian]

http://www.network54.com/Forum/121510/m ... g+Ikaruga-

Holy shit Ikaruga pre-release hype!

Reminds me of when I used to argue about whether FF7 was better than FF8 on gamefaqs and cheatcc when I was like 13-14. Jesus seeing all those old style forums takes me back. I remember when I randomely found some R-Type fan page on maxpages.com (this extremely crappy free website hosting system that allowed you to make your own crappy looking website, generally with flames everywhere).

http://www.network54.com/Forum/121510/m ... +fogey+act.

OH WOW! I guess shitstorms were going on back then as well.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/121510/m ... g+contest-

LOLZ